Three days of labor strikes have prompted Hostess Brands Inc. to close three plants and mull a possible liquidation of the beleaguered baking company.

Hostess, which has been dueling with various labor groups for the past 10 months as it attempts to claw its way out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, is seeing picket lines at about two-thirds of its plants, according to Chief Executive Gregory Rayburn.

The strikes were organized by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers International Union, whose 5,680 Hostess workers account for about 30% of the company's total work force.

In September, the union rejected a Hostess proposal that called for deep labor concessions, but a judge later allowed the baking company to force the union to adopt the new collective-bargaining agreement.

The union said on Friday that it was kicking off the strike to protest the "horrendous contract" that Hostess imposed, which features wage cuts and limits workers' participation in pension plans.

Mr. Rayburn said Monday afternoon that Hostess would be shutting down plants in Seattle, St. Louis and Cincinnati as a result of the work stoppage. The plants produce everything from cakes to Nature's Pride and Wonder breads, and they employ 627 workers, all of whom will lose their jobs. "We don't have the manpower to maintain them during the strike," he said.

He also said that the company didn't have much more wiggle room in terms of shutting down additional plants and that the next step would probably be a complete shutdown.

Still, the three plant closings don't necessarily mean that the availability of Twinkies and Wonder Bread will cease just yet in some areas of the country. "In most cases, we'll be able to ship products into those territories from other plants," Mr. Rayburn said Monday morning, adding that members of the company's largest union, the Teamsters, would get the baked goods where they need to go.

But it isn't clear whether the Teamsters will continue to cooperate. Over the weekend, many Teamsters crossed the picket lines, according to both Mr. Rayburn and Ken Hall, the Teamsters secretary-treasurer. But Mr. Hall said Monday that his union is still trying to gather more details about the strike and to sort through the contract provisions that specify what actions various Teamster locals can take when another Hostess labor group goes on strike.

Mr. Hall said he is sure his members will honor the picket lines if it is determined that such a move is sanctioned under their contracts. The Teamsters represent about 7,500 of Hostess's 18,300 employees.

Hostess filed for Chapter 11 protection in January, saying it couldn't survive without labor cost cutting. It has long warned that a strike would spell the end of the baking company.

"This is not a situation that…we can withstand for any significant amount of time," Mr. Rayburn said.

If the strike continues, he added, the company will have to forgo the reorganization proposal that was slated for an initial round of approval later this month and instead initiate wind-down proceedings.

"I think the timeline for us to have to make that determination is very short," he said. "We're talking days, not weeks."

Frank Hurt, the bakers union president, said he's well aware of the possibility of a liquidation, but he stressed that "people will only take so much" when it comes to cuts to their wages and benefits. On Monday, he took aim at the labor offer that 92% of voting Hostess union workers rejected in September. "It's just way, way over the top," he said in an interview. "It was an untenable proposal for our people."

The union's website indicates that workers at Hostess facilities from Knoxville, Tenn., to Sacramento, Calif., are honoring picket lines. Mr. Hurt said that the union aimed to eventually start picket lines at a plant in New Jersey, but other than that it doesn't expect further expansion of the strike.

Mr. Rayburn said that the bakers union hasn't made any specific demands of Hostess and that the two parties aren't engaged in negotiations. He added that the company has "zero" tolerance for revamping the terms of its new labor deal, which the Teamsters narrowly voted to accept in September.

A few other, smaller unions threw their support behind the deal as well, while some smaller unions followed the bakers union and resisted.

Stevo

__________________

Quote:

Originally Posted by SSMAN

...Welcome to the land of "Fuck it". No body cares, and if they do, no body cares.

So I'm reading it's a 27-32% cut in pay (after factoring in health insurance increases) with 8% in wages coming out immediately in the 1st year of a 5 year contract. The second year has a 3% increase in wages and 3rd year has another 1%. Not sure what their wages are at but chances at, they are more than fair for the work being done.

I wouldn't be pleased but big picture, I'd gladly take a pay/benefits/pension cut before losing my job. Boo fucking hoo if your insurance goes up, so is everybody else's in the United States. I can't remember ever hearing about a union going out on strike and benefiting from it in recent past so if they end up losing their jobs because they are unwilling to sacrifice with everyone else, they deserve what they get.

Hell military retirees are having to pay more for our health care and getting cuts in pay and getting less benefits. Fuck unions

LOL that article is funny. On one hand you got a union striking, but on the other you've got the teamsters working and they claim they will make up any short falls.

My honest opinion is this. If one union aka the teamster's agree to the contract then the other unions shouldn't have a leg to stand on. Accept the contract and the concessions and move on with things. If not all the jobs just became Teamster jobs. This is what a judge will tell them. Been there done that and got the Tshirt. NEXT

Hostess Brands CEO said Wednesday the company will liquidate unless striking workers return to the job by the end of the day on Thursday.

"We simply do not have the financial resources to survive an ongoing national strike," Greg Rayburn said in a statement.

Workers are protesting a contract imposed by a bankruptcy court. The bakers union has called the contract "outrageous."

A liquidation would result in more than 18,000 workers losing their jobs.

Over the weekend, workers in the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, or BCTGM, went on strike at Hostess-owned plants in several states. The strike includes workers at the Dolly Madison plant in Emporia.

Hostess filed for bankruptcy in January, the second time it has done so since 2004.

Union employees in Emporia say in August of last year the company stopped giving them their pension earning. They say it now wants to cut wages by eight percent.

"You put in the time, you put in the years, I mean, we all have dedicated our lives to the company and they just don't appreciate it," said one striking worker.

Steven Blakey says he he was looking forward to retiring from the company. He says what's going on now hurts not just him, but his family as well.

"I spent 30 years of my life, missed a lot of time with my family, now it's time for me to enjoy that time and I have to keep working, I'm missing out on a lot." said Blakey.

The Dolly Madison plant in Emporia is one of the city's largest employers.

Tuesday, Hostess said it will permanently close bakeries in Seattle, St. Louis and Cincinnati. Those three plants employ 627 people combined. The strike is in effect at 24 of Hostess' 33 plants.

Hostess Brands CEO said Wednesday the company will liquidate unless striking workers return to the job by the end of the day on Thursday.

"We simply do not have the financial resources to survive an ongoing national strike," Greg Rayburn said in a statement.

Workers are protesting a contract imposed by a bankruptcy court. The bakers union has called the contract "outrageous."

A liquidation would result in more than 18,000 workers losing their jobs.

Over the weekend, workers in the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, or BCTGM, went on strike at Hostess-owned plants in several states. The strike includes workers at the Dolly Madison plant in Emporia.

Hostess filed for bankruptcy in January, the second time it has done so since 2004.

Union employees in Emporia say in August of last year the company stopped giving them their pension earning. They say it now wants to cut wages by eight percent.

"You put in the time, you put in the years, I mean, we all have dedicated our lives to the company and they just don't appreciate it," said one striking worker.

Steven Blakey says he he was looking forward to retiring from the company. He says what's going on now hurts not just him, but his family as well.
"I spent 30 years of my life, missed a lot of time with my family, now it's time for me to enjoy that time and I have to keep working, I'm missing out on a lot." said Blakey.The Dolly Madison plant in Emporia is one of the city's largest employers.

Tuesday, Hostess said it will permanently close bakeries in Seattle, St. Louis and Cincinnati. Those three plants employ 627 people combined. The strike is in effect at 24 of Hostess' 33 plants.

Fearing the imminent liquidation of Hostess Brands Inc. and the loss of an estimated 7,500 jobs, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Thursday urged the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union to hold a secret ballot vote on whether to end a nationwide strike that started last Friday over pay and benefits cuts approved by a bankruptcy judge last month.

Hostess Brands, which has been in bankruptcy since January, said Wednesday that it would file a motion for liquidation Friday morning if it could not restart operations by 5 p.m. Thursday.

In response to the liquidation threat, Bakery union president Frank Hurt said in a statement that the company's woes resulted from "nearly a decade of financial and operational mismanagement."

About 330 of the Bakery union's 6,600 Hostess members work at Hostess's Northeast Philadelphia plant. The pay cuts also applied to 125 nonunion workers at the plant, the company said.